Try drilling a hole and inserting a hardwood dowel. The best holing power
would be to drill a hole through the edge of the bench and insert a dowel so
that the threads enter the grain at right angles instead of through the end
grain.
I would probably buy the brass inserts and thread them in and use machine
bolts.
I don't think you would get good results with filler.
max

I have a solid redwood bench that I made over 30 years ago which I'm
rebuilding. I originally secured it with steel screws which, over
time, corroded and destroyed the wood that surrounded them. She
cleaned up well, and I know I'll be able to put it back in service,
but have to decide the best way to do so. My first idea was to fill
the holes with a sythetic wood, drill it out again and replace old
hardware with SS screws. Dowels are another alternative, but more
difficult given the tools available to me.

Anyone care to offer some suggestions of the type of filler material
to use? Any other tips that might be useful in the project? Your
help and advise would be appreciated. Thanks!

T Will

How about just using bigger screws?
That would seem to be the easiest approach.

-j

"max" wrote in message
...
Try drilling a hole and inserting a hardwood dowel. The best holing power
would be to drill a hole through the edge of the bench and insert a dowel
so
that the threads enter the grain at right angles instead of through the
end
grain.
I would probably buy the brass inserts and thread them in and use machine
bolts.
I don't think you would get good results with filler.
max

I have a solid redwood bench that I made over 30 years ago which I'm
rebuilding. I originally secured it with steel screws which, over
time, corroded and destroyed the wood that surrounded them. She
cleaned up well, and I know I'll be able to put it back in service,
but have to decide the best way to do so. My first idea was to fill
the holes with a sythetic wood, drill it out again and replace old
hardware with SS screws. Dowels are another alternative, but more
difficult given the tools available to me.

Anyone care to offer some suggestions of the type of filler material
to use? Any other tips that might be useful in the project? Your
help and advise would be appreciated. Thanks!

T Will

If you do decide to go with the filler method, is there any way to make your
own filler with some glue and redwood sawdust from the bench? It would look
better than the standard "plastic wood" look possibly.

Just a thought.

P.

"max" wrote in message
...
Try drilling a hole and inserting a hardwood dowel. The best holing power
would be to drill a hole through the edge of the bench and insert a dowel
so
that the threads enter the grain at right angles instead of through the
end
grain.
I would probably buy the brass inserts and thread them in and use machine
bolts.
I don't think you would get good results with filler.
max

I have a solid redwood bench that I made over 30 years ago which I'm
rebuilding. I originally secured it with steel screws which, over
time, corroded and destroyed the wood that surrounded them. She
cleaned up well, and I know I'll be able to put it back in service,
but have to decide the best way to do so. My first idea was to fill
the holes with a sythetic wood, drill it out again and replace old
hardware with SS screws. Dowels are another alternative, but more
difficult given the tools available to me.

Anyone care to offer some suggestions of the type of filler material
to use? Any other tips that might be useful in the project? Your
help and advise would be appreciated. Thanks!

T Will

On 15 Nov 2004 11:04:49 -0800, (T Will) wrote:

I have a solid redwood bench that I made over 30 years ago which I'm
rebuilding. I originally secured it with steel screws which, over
time, corroded and destroyed the wood that surrounded them. She
cleaned up well, and I know I'll be able to put it back in service,
but have to decide the best way to do so. My first idea was to fill
the holes with a sythetic wood, drill it out again and replace old
hardware with SS screws. Dowels are another alternative, but more
difficult given the tools available to me.

Anyone care to offer some suggestions of the type of filler material
to use? Any other tips that might be useful in the project? Your
help and advise would be appreciated. Thanks!

T Will


stainless steel threaded inserts.

Considering the way that Redwood changes color as it ages, I'd hesitate to
use anything but redwood to repair the area where the holes are damaged.
Matching the color with something that won't change will certainly fail. Why
not chisel out a chunk and let in a trapezoidal block of redwood. Something
like this:

____
\__/
____ _____
____ \ /_____

-j

"Paul in MN" wrote in message
...
If you do decide to go with the filler method, is there any way to make
your
own filler with some glue and redwood sawdust from the bench? It would
look
better than the standard "plastic wood" look possibly.

Just a thought.

P.

"max" wrote in message
...
Try drilling a hole and inserting a hardwood dowel. The best holing
power
would be to drill a hole through the edge of the bench and insert a
dowel
so
that the threads enter the grain at right angles instead of through the
end
grain.
I would probably buy the brass inserts and thread them in and use
machine
bolts.
I don't think you would get good results with filler.
max

I have a solid redwood bench that I made over 30 years ago which I'm
rebuilding. I originally secured it with steel screws which, over
time, corroded and destroyed the wood that surrounded them. She
cleaned up well, and I know I'll be able to put it back in service,
but have to decide the best way to do so. My first idea was to fill
the holes with a sythetic wood, drill it out again and replace old
hardware with SS screws. Dowels are another alternative, but more
difficult given the tools available to me.

Anyone care to offer some suggestions of the type of filler material
to use? Any other tips that might be useful in the project? Your
help and advise would be appreciated. Thanks!

T Will

Thanks for your suggestions. It will be a week or so before I get to
cracking on the project. I've looked it over some and think I'm going
to try relocating the holes where the worst damage was done, plug the
holes I don't use with dowels, and use wood filler for about half of
the remaining holes that have only minor damage. With countersinking
and plugging the screw heads (and the dowels that filled unused
holes), it should look pretty clean when finished. Maybe I'll get
another 30 years of service out of it. This older redwood is a pretty
incredible material. Sits out in the elements and takes it all in
stride.

Appreciate you taking time to pass along your ideas.

T Will